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How Will Aaron Rodgers and the Packers React to David Bakhtiari’s Injury?

Published 01/01/2021, 11:00 AM EST

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The Green Bay Packers have had an excellent season so far. The Packers have the best record in the entire NFC at 12-3 and look set to grab the first seed in the conference.

They are playoff favorites, thanks to the wonderful performances of Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers has been playing at an MVP level but will be without one of his star teammates – David Bakhtiari.

NFL analyst Ian Rappaport revealed that David Bakhtiari suffered an injury that will rule him out for the remainder of the regular and post-season.

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While the Packers have not confirmed the nature of the injury, sources believe that Bakhtiari suffered a torn ACL, which rules him out of the Playoffs but also puts him at risk to miss the kick-off of the 2021 NFL season.

He said, “2020 sent us out the way it really has been treating us the entire year, especially for Packers fans and the Packers organization.

“David Bakhtiari, All-Pro, multi-year Pro-Bowl left tackle, the highest-paid left tackle in football. One of the best players on the Packers regardless of position suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice.” 

Rappaport reported that Bakhtiari’s injury was not because of any recklessness from himself or his teammates. The injury occurred during a simple drill at practice.

David Bakhtiari- A big loss for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers

He said, “From my understanding, he was really just doing a regular drill. He went down with an injury that at the time, sounded like it looked pretty serious.

“The fear is that it is a torn ACL, which would, of course, knock Bakhtiari out of the end of the regular season through the playoffs, and make a tight timetable to be ready for 2021.” 

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Rappaport described how important Bakhtiari is to the Packers, especially Aaron Rodgers. Bakhtiari serves as the protector for Aaron Rodgers during offensive maneuvers.

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“This is a player who signed a four-year, $ 105.5 million contract extension. The blindside protector for Aaron Rodgers. You cannot overstate how important David Bakhtiari is for this offensive line, and for this Packers offense in general.” 

While the Packers do have replacements for his position, Rappaport noted that the Packers will miss his talent and play on the field.

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“They do have some options to replace him. Billy Turner, Elgton Jenkins, Rick Wagner. No one will replace Bakhtiari just the way he is on the field, just the overall talent level, and leadership. This is a difficult blow for the Green Bay Packers.”

How will Aaron Rodgers deal with this setback? The Packers go into the Playoffs with a very tough set of opponents to face if they want to reach the Super Bowl this year.

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Written by:

Aaditya Krishnamurthy

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Aaditya Krishnamurthy is an NBA & NFL journalist for EssentiallySports, before which he worked at BusinessWorld magazine. He has been a fan of Basketball for over 10 years now, since Shaquille O’Neal was a Phoenix Suns player. During his time at Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, he started a sports magazine for the college called the Overtime Tribune and hosted the Overtime Tribune Podcast until he graduated.
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